Crouching Aphrodite
The crouching Aphrodite is considered the work of the Hellenistic sculptor Doidalses . It was probably made around 250 BC. And founded, after Aphrodite of Knidos des Praxiteles , a second type of naked Aphrodite in the art of antiquity. The original, which is said to have been made of bronze, is lost; however, as with Aphrodite of Knidos, there are numerous replicas. Sometimes they have a shameful, defensive, sometimes more free attitude:
"Lely Venus" (in the British Museum , London)
Aphrodite of Rhodes (in the Archaeological Museum, Rhodes)
The artist
It is said of Doidalses from Bithynia that he created a bronze statue of Zeus Stratos for the Bithynian king Nicomedes I. Otherwise nothing is known about him; ancient sources say nothing about his life or dates. Since Nicomedes I died around 255 to 253, Doidalses' artistic activity could date to around 250 BC. Fall. The tradition of the statue for Nicomedes, however, is controversial.
Meaning and reception
Reinhard Lullies writes: "... the statue of the naked crouching Aphrodite must have been one of the most popular and most widespread works of Hellenistic art in ancient times ...". Robert Sturm writes: "[This] picture motif had an extraordinary radiance in antiquity and exerted an incredible fascination on its viewers." There were also depictions of the crouching Aphrodite on Roman coins, e.g. B. the Julia Domna . In the Renaissance the motif was taken up again by Giovanni da Bologna (called Giambologna).
Peter Paul Rubens saw the replica now known as the Lely Venus in the Gonzaga's collection in Mantua around 1600 ; he used the motif in his painting "Venus, Cupid, Bacchus and Ceres", which can now be seen in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Kassel) :
A text in the museum's catalog makes explicit reference to Doidalses.
literature
- U. Thieme, F. Becker, H. Vollmer: General encyclopedia of visual artists from antiquity to the present . In different editions. (Listed here because of Doidalses).
- Benezit Dictionary of artists (online via www.oxfordartonline.com)
- Reinhard Lullies, The crouching Aphrodite , Filser-Verlag, Munich-Pasing 1954.
- Robert Sturm, Crouching Aphrodite - Importance of the motif in ancient and post-ancient art , Verlag Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2015.
